Give Yourself Better Credit With This Advice

If you are waiting around, waiting for your credit to fix itself, that is never going to happen. The ostrich effect, putting your head in the sand, will only result in a low score and a poor credit report for the rest of your life. Keep reading for ways that you can be proactive in turning your credit around.

Be careful about which collection accounts you pay off. With the current way the credit reporting system is structured, paying off a collection agency may actually lower your score because the date of last activity will be reset. A paid collection has no less of an impact on your score than an open collection. This resetting of the date of last activity also means the seven year reporting clock will restart. If you can wait out a collection agency, do it.

You can review your credit report for free annually from the three credit bureaus. Use these reports to make sure that all information on them is correct. Errors are not uncommon and no one will notice it or fix it other than you. Having the wrong information on your credit can damage your score, or cause you to be denied for a loan.

If you have credit cards, make sure you're paying off the entire balance at the end of the month. This will help keep you from getting into a spiral of debt. If you let your credit card bills start piling up, it becomes nearly impossible to pay them all off.

Bringing the balance on your credit cards below 50 percent of your limit will help improve your credit. Lenders often look to see how much credit you use compared to what the limit is on your card. Ideally, it should be between 30 and 50 percent. Remember, lowering the amount of interest you pay is not the overall goal; you want to improve your credit rating.

It is important to remember that repairing your credit history is very similar to losing weight. Like weight loss, it takes a lot of time and effort and there are no quick fixes. Just like you have to resist the temptation of high-calorie foods to lose weight, you must resist using credit cards when trying to repair your credit.

You don't have to be a financial wizard to have a good credit score. It isn't rocket science and there is a lot that you can do starting today to raise your score and put positive things on your report. All you need to do is follow the tips that you just read from this article and you will be well on your way.

Visit Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village to consult a mortgage professional.